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Video: 2010 PickupTrucks.com Shootout: 7% Uphill Climb
By Cars.com Editors
August 12, 2010About the video
PickupTrucks.com puts the trucks through their paces by taking them up a 7% uphill climb.
Transcript
(logo smashes) Hi, this is Mike Levine from pickuptrucks.com. And we're here at General Motors Proving Grounds in Milford, Michigan for the 2010 Heavy-Duty Shootout.
Today, we're taking nine trucks, we've got three one-ton pickups and six 3/4-ton trucks. The one-ton trucks are hooked up to 12,000 pound trailers and the 3/4-ton trucks, they've got 10,000 pound trailers. We're gonna run them up a 7% grade. Let's go ahead and see how they do. Our first trucks towing five ton trailers up the 1,600 foot long, 7% grade were the 3/4-ton gas pickups. Unlike Milan Dragway, where we were on level ground, adding gravity to these tests made the contest much more interesting for the gas trucks. The Ford F250 and Ram 2500 were tied neck and neck through the first quarter of the hill climb. At 400 feet, they were within one mile an hour and .15 seconds of each other. But then the Ram started to struggle, limited by its five speed transmission. Which allowed the Silverado 2500 to catch up and pass it for the second spot. The Ford finished in first. The next trucks up the 7% grade were the 3/4-ton diesels. Like the 3/4-ton gas trucks, these were single rear-wheel haulers. The Ford Power Stroke and GM Duramax Diesels dominated on the hill. The earlier torque peak of the Ram's durable Cummins engine wasn't an advantage starting out. By the end of the grade, the Silverado 2500 was nearly six miles an hour and 3.4 seconds faster than the Ram and almost two miles an hour and two seconds faster than the Ford. It was the only truck to break the 30 second barrier. The Ram may have the advantage of not requiring Diesel exhaust fluid for its Cummins six cylinder engine. But we think many Diesel owners would trade the maintenance side in for the performance advantages of the Power Stroke and Duramax Diesels. Finally, the big one-tons ran up the 7% grade with a 12,000 pound trailer. The fastest dually was the Ford F350, it was nearly three miles an hour faster than the GMC Sierra 3500 and five miles an hour faster than the Ram. It finished the climb in just 30.93 seconds. While the Sierra Denali's launches were always clean, we noticed some harshness on the runs during the two, three upshift. The Ford F350 also had some difficulty with rear axle hop coming off the line. The Ram, it had the smoothest starts, but it was limited by its lower power settings. So, there you have it. For the full results of the Heavy-Duty Shootout, check out pickuptrucks.com. (laid back music)
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